Sonja Edström

Sonja Viola Edström-Ruthström (Edström before 1960, 18 November 1930 – 15 October 2020^[1]) was a Swedish cross-country skier. She competed at the 1952, 1956, and 1960 Olympics in the 10 km and 3 × 5 km relay events and won bronze medals in both in 1956; in 1960 she finished fifth in the 10 km, but won the 3 × 5 km relay.^[2]

Sonja Edström

Personal information
Born	(1930-12-18)18 December 1930 Luleå, Sweden
Died	15 October 2020(2020-10-15) (aged 89) Luleå, Sweden
Sport
Sport	Cross-country skiing
Club	Luleå SK
Medal record Women's cross-country skiing Representing  Sweden Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 2 World Championships 0 0 2 Total 1 0 4 Olympic Games 1960 Squaw Valley 3 × 5 km relay 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 10 km 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 3 × 5 km relay World Championships 1954 Falun 3 × 5 km relay 1958 Lahti 3 × 5 km relay

Edström also won two 3 × 5 km relay bronze medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1954 and 1958. She won the 10 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1956. In 1953–1960, she collected 12 individual and three relay national titles.^[2][3]

Edström was born in a family of six siblings, and was mostly raised by her father, as her mother fell seriously ill when Edström was six years old. At 14 she started working as a maid, and at 16 as a bottles cleaner at the Luleå Brewery. She was later a nurse at a Luleå hospital for more than 30 years.^[2]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).^[4]

Olympic Games

• 3 medals – (1 gold, 2 bronze)

Year	Age	10 km	3 × 5 km   relay
1952	21	11	—
1956	25	Bronze	Bronze
1960	29	5	Gold

World Championships

• 2 medals – (2 bronze)

Year	Age	10 km	3 × 5 km   relay
1954	23	—	Bronze
1958	27	22	Bronze

References

1. "Sveriges första kvinnliga längdmedaljör på OS har gått bort". 16 October 2020.
2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sonja Edström-Ruthström". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
3. Sonja Edström-Ruthström. Swedish Olympic Committee
4. "EDSTRÖM-RUTHSTRÖM Sonja". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

Further reading

• Sonja Edström at Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon

External links

• Sonja Edström-Ruthström at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Sonja Edström at Olympics.com
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 February 2007) (in Norwegian)